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Wed, Nov. 25, 12:46 PM
Wed, Nov. 25, 12:30 PM
- 3D Systems (DDD +5.8%), Stratasys (SSYS +5.1%), Voxeljet (VJET +4.6%), and (especially) ExOne (XONE +16.6%) are up strongly on a day the Nasdaq is up 0.4%.
- Profit-taking from shorts is likely helping out: 3D had 34.1M shares (32% of its float) shorted as of Oct. 30. Stratasys had 12.4M shares (25% of its float) shorted, ExOne 2.5M shares (26% of its float), and Voxeljet 1.3M shares (10% of its float).
- ExOne's gains come less than three weeks after shares plunged on account of a Q3 miss and full-year guidance cut.
Wed, Nov. 11, 1:46 PM
- Markets continue to become more risk-averse towards two once-high-flying industries: Solar stocks are adding to the Tuesday losses seen following SunEdison and Canadian Solar's earnings (TAN -2.5%), and 3D printing stocks are taking another leg lower after dropping yesterday in the wake of ExOne's results/guidance. The Nasdaq and S&P are nearly flat.
- Solar decliners: SunEdison (SUNE -15.7%), SolarCity (SCTY -3.9%), SunPower (SPWR -3.5%), SolarEdge (SEDG -13.1%), Vivint (VSLR -10.8%), TerraForm Power (TERP -4%), TerraForm Global (GLBL -4.6%), Sunrun (RUN -2.9%), and 8point3 Energy (CAFD -4.4%). SunEdison, SolarCity, SolarEdge, and TerraForm Power have made new 52-week lows.
- 3D printing decliners: 3D Systems (DDD -6.1%), Stratasys (SSYS -4.7%), ExOne (XONE -5.6%), and Voxeljet (VJET -3.9%). 3D and Stratasys have made new 52-week lows.
- UBS has cut its SunEdison target by $3 to $6. Among other things, it attributes SunEdison's post-earning nosedive to lower-than-expected margins on retained projects, management's plans to push ahead with the Vivint acquisition, and LAP Holdings' plans to seek at least $150M in damages following SunEdison's cancelled acquisition of the company.
- RBC (target cut by $4 to $20) has joined the ranks of firms defending SunEdison (previous), arguing its recent decisions to cut project construction guidance, lower spending, and sell a greater portion of its projects to third parties make sense. It sees the company "progressing towards sustainable growth," while cautioning shares will remain volatile in the near-term. SunEdison is down 34% over the last two days.
Mon, Nov. 9, 5:40 PM
Mon, Nov. 9, 5:02 PM
- Following its major Q3 miss, ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) expects full-year revenue of $40M, down from $43.9M a year and well below prior guidance of $58M-$60M. Consensus had already fallen to $55.1M. Gross margin guidance has been cut to 17%-21% from 30%-34%.
- The 3D printer maker blames its top-line pressures on lengthy sales cycles for production machines (said to range from 30 days to 15 months), and says it's seeing "increasing difficulties in our ability to forecast the time cycle from order placement to customer acceptance." Chinese and Russian forex pressures are also blamed. 3D printing peers have also been having a rough time.
- Printer sales: 5 printers were sold in Q3, down from 7 in Q2 and 8 a year ago. 1 high-end S-Max printer was sold, compared with none in Q2 and 1 a year ago. 3 Innovent machines (smaller, R&D-focused) were sold vs. 5 in Q2 and none a year ago.
- Financials: Gross margin was 13.2% vs. 13% in Q2 and 25.8% a year ago. Lower sales, mix changes, and higher production costs are blamed for the Y/Y drop. R&D spend fell 19% Y/Y to a mere $1.8M; SG&A spend rose 9% to $5M. ExOne ended Q3 with $20.3M in cash (down $4.5M Q/Q), and $2M in debt.
- Shares have plunged to $8.25 after hours.
- Q3 results, PR
Mon, Nov. 9, 4:42 PM
Sun, Nov. 8, 5:35 PM
- AEGR, AMBC, APEI, APPS, APU, ASEI, ATW, BDE, BEAT, CALL, CARA, CHMI, CKEC, CZR, DEPO, DTSI, EGY, ENV, FF, GALE, HALO, HMIN, IFF, IPAR, JAZZ, JIVE, JMBA, KEYW, LEAF, LF, LGF, LGND, MDR, MODN, NOR, NSPH, OMER, OPK, PDM, PFIE, PINC, PSIX, PTCT, PTLA, PVA, QNST, RARE, RAX, RBCN, REN, REXX, RLD, RMTI, SB, SBRA, SCLN, SUNE, TERP, TPC, TTEC, TTGT, TUBE, TXTR, UGI, VSAT, WWD, XON, XONE, ZGNX
Wed, Nov. 4, 10:33 AM
- After opening lower in response to their Q3 reports, 3D Systems (DDD +18.5%) and Stratasys (SSYS +8.6%) have quickly changed direction, as investors decide (for now, at least) enough bad news is priced in. 3D printing peers ExOne (XONE +2%) and Voxeljet (VJET +6%) are also rallying.
- Profit-taking by shorts is likely helping: 3D had 33.8M shares (32% of its float) shorted as of Oct. 15, and Stratasys 12.8M shares (26% of its float). ExOne had 2.6M shares (28% of its float) shorted, and Voxeljet 1.3M shares (10% of its float).
- Earlier: 3D Systems, Stratasys lower after posting Q3 results, hinting at job cuts
Mon, Oct. 26, 7:35 AM
- ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) has entered into a five-year revolving credit agreement with RHI Investments to provide a $15M revolving credit facility (with the opportunity to increase the facility by an additional $15M).
- The agreement permits the company to use loan proceeds for providing lease financing to customers of its 3D printing machines, which will increase its global installed base beyond the current 200+ machines in service, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Thu, Oct. 22, 4:58 PM
- Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) has warned again: The 3D printer maker now expects Q3 revenue of $166M-$168M and EPS of -$0.03 to $0.02, below a consensus of $184.6M and $0.08.
- A new $140M-$180M charge is expected for the MakerBot consumer/enthusiast 3D printer unit, and Stratasys is "in the process of performing a goodwill impairment analysis for its other reporting units."
- Stratasys blames weak capital spending by "customers in key verticals," and (echoing many third-party opinions) believes the 3D printing industry's huge 2013/2014 growth "may have created excess capacity in the market." Q3 results arrive on the morning of Nov. 4.
- Shares have plunged to $23.80 after hours. Rival 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) has fallen to $11.40. ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) is down 4.3% to $10.31; Voxeljet (NYSE:VJET) is down 3.1% to $5.95.
Mon, Oct. 5, 3:14 PM
- The Nasdaq is up 1.5% as equity markets display a renewed appetite for risk, and a large number of tech companies are posting 5%+ gains.
- Major gainers include 3D printer makers 3D Systems (DDD +6.8%), Stratasys (SSYS +7.3%), and ExOne (XONE +10.4%), solar microinverter maker Enphase (ENPH +10.7%) and rival SolarEdge (SEDG +6.1%), car-buying site TrueCar (TRUE +10%), defense IT firm Kratos (KTOS +9.5%), online ad software firm Marin Software (MRIN +8.3%), and CDN owner Limelight (LLNW +8.9%).
- Others: IP licensing firm Acacia (ACTG +7.2%), application delivery controller/security hardware vendor A10 Networks (ATEN +8.3%), travel deal site Travelzoo (TZOO +7.5%), home automation tech provider Control4 (CTRL +8.5%), M2M/telematics hardware and services firm CalAmp (CAMP +6.1%), online video hosting platform Brightcove (BCOV +6%).
- 3D printing stocks, hit hard in 2014 and 2015, are reversing the big losses seen last Tuesday. Travelzoo's gains follow last Thursday's CEO change announcement. CalAmp is now up 24% since beating FQ2 estimates and providing in-line FQ3 guidance on Oct. 1.
- Previously covered: Twitter, Cisco, Rackspace, Micron, SunEdison, Vivint, Juniper, CEVA, Knowles, Yandex/Qiwi
Mon, Aug. 24, 12:45 PM
- Off nearly 9% in early trading, the Nasdaq is now down just 0.4%. Along the way, many tech names have not only erased their early losses, but are now posting major gains.
- Standouts include Micron (MU +5.3%), Skyworks (SWKS +6.7%), GoPro (GPRO +4.1%), Cree (CREE +6.7%), SunPower (SPWR +6.1%), Mobileye (MBLY +5.1%), Amkor (AMKR +9.1%), ExOne (XONE +4.7%), NXP (NXPI +3.7%), Yelp (YELP +4.3%), Cirrus Logic (CRUS +4.4%), and GoDaddy (GDDY +4.1%).
- See also: SolarCity, SunEdison
- Update (4:08PM ET): The Nasdaq went south again in afternoon trading, closeng down 3.8%. Skyworks, Cree, SunPower, Amkor, Mobileye, ExOne, and GoDaddy managed to stay in the green, while Micron, NXP, Yelp, GoPro, and Cirrus closed with modest losses.
Mon, Aug. 10, 5:22 PM
- After rising 4.8% in regular trading amid a broader 3D printing rally, ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) has slumped to $8.50 in AH trading following a sizable Q2 miss. 3D printer sales fell 60% Y/Y to $2.4M, while other revenue (materials/services) rose 17% to $6.1M.
- In spite of the miss, ExOne is maintaining full-year revenue guidance of $58M-$66M; the pre-earnings consensus is only at $58.1M. Last year, ExOne maintained its full-year sales guidance in August in the face of analyst skepticism before cutting it in November.
- 2015 gross margin guidance has been cut to 30%-34% from 36%-40%. Q2 gross margin was 13%, improved from Q1's 0.0% (that's not a typo) but down from 22.3% a year ago. ExOne blames a mix shift away from printer sales, along with "higher fixed costs and inefficiencies."
- 7 printers were sold in Q2, up from 6 a year ago. However, no high-end S-Max machines were among them. 5 Innovent machines (smaller, focused on R&D projects) were sold.
- GAAP operating expenses rose 12% Y/Y to $8M - SG&A spend totaled $6.3M, and R&D $1.7M. ExOne ended Q2 with $24.8M in cash (down from $36.2M at the end of 2014), and $2M in debt.
- Q2 results, PR
Mon, Aug. 10, 4:15 PM
Mon, Aug. 10, 1:52 PM
- Up strongly last Thursday following 3D Systems' Q2 miss, 3D printer makers are among the biggest tech gainers on a day the Nasdaq is up 1.2%. 3D Systems (DDD +8.8%), Stratasys (SSYS +8.3%), ExOne (XONE +8.5%), and Voxeljet (VJET +7.3%) are each up over 7%.
- Volume for the group has been above-average, but not by a huge amount. With massive portions of each company's float still shorted, profit-taking by shorts is likely helping out today.
- On Friday, Piper's Troy Jensen followed up his July 31 upgrade of Stratasys by upgrading 3D Systems to Neutral. Jensen reported industry checks pointed to improvements at channel partners, noted 3D mentioned in its earnings call (transcript) industrial clients began resuming purchases in Q2, and argued the metal 3D printing market is reaching an inflection point.
- YTD performances: DDD -55%. SSYS -61%. XONE -45%. VJET -11%.
Sun, Aug. 9, 5:35 PM| Sun, Aug. 9, 5:35 PM | 13 Comments
ExOne Co is engaged in providing 3D printing machines & 3D printed and other products, materials and services to industrial customers. It manufactures and sells 3D printing machines and printing products to specification for its customers.
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Apple May Be Reliant On The iPhone, But That Isn't A Problem
When Apple's recent earnings call failed to live up to analyst's expectations last month, it sent the company's stock tumbling. Strange, in what appeared to be yet another blockbuster of a quarter. Aside from an element of market manipulation, which always appear to be a risk with Apple's shares, there is a reason for this: the iPhone.
The line goes that Apple's income is so heavily reliant on the iPhone (nearly two-thirds of revenue) that any sign that the flagship device is failing sets investors panicking.
Ignoring for a moment that the analysts themselves make the predictions and then kick Apple for failing to meet them, how accurate a perception is this?
Currently the iPhone holds a small, but incredibly valuable part of the smartphone market. Globally that amounts to somewhere between a fifth and a third of overall smartphone sales, depending on which quarter we are in.
Focusing on the premium market, Apple's share is somewhere more like 60-80%.
The iPhone is an aspirational device, whilst there are many smartphone buyers who can afford to choose an iPhone and don't, there are a far greater proportion who can't, but would if they could. As a result we see Apple making sales to large numbers of defectors from other platforms. I'm willing to bet that a lot of those are driven by a change in circumstance meaning the buyer can now afford the phone they desire.
Given a choice smartphone buyers migrate to the iPhone at far greater rates than they move away. Add in the effect of repeat sales thanks to Apple's customer loyalty and almost total retention of customers and you'll see why concerns about iPhone sales are nonsense.
iPhone sales growth will continue for the foreseeable future. Investors worrying about whether the rate of growth matches random numbers picked by analysts are really getting their underwear in a twist for no good reason.

domain: news


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Sustainability Goals and Supply Chain Opportunity
Decarbonization as a necessary component of the COVID recovery has been widely discussed, with most major US trading partners, including the UK, EU, South Korea, and Japan, committing to net-zero emissions by 2050. Beyond the national level, some 2,500 subnational actors – including Maine – have also expressed their desire to reach net zero in the next 30 years.
In addition, major global corporations like IKEA, Daimler, and Siemens – companies with sprawling, worldwide supply chains and sales channels – are setting their own sustainability targets and looking at supplier relationships as a place to make additional gains. In many cases, this reflects a recognition that the true carbon cost of their end products is found in the upstream supply chain, which includes many small and medium sized businesses.
In total, just eight industrial supply chains account for 50% of emissions: food, construction, fashion, “fast-moving” consumer goods, electronics, professional services, and freight. Companies selling into those chains, particularly with a multinational corporation as the ultimate end user, will likely be expected to set, or follow, sustainability goals in order to remain as eligible suppliers or vendors.
A recent report, Net-Zero Challenge: The Supply Chain Opportunity, published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group lays out the current state of corporate-led, net-zero initiatives and provides insight into how those corporations might push sustainability goals down into the supply chain.
Thanks to our partners at OCO Global for their contribution to this article.


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Washington State University researchers have used the ancient Japanese art of paper folding to possibly solve a key challenge for outer space travel – how to store and move fuel to rocket engines. The researchers have developed an origami-inspired, folded plastic fuel bladder that doesn’t crack at super cold temperatures and could someday be used to store and pump fuel.
The advantages of a fuel tank that will shrink as it empties are numerous. It appears that nothing that has been tried so far has worked as well as this new design. If proven viable, it will change radically how interplanetary spaceships are designed. It will also make interplanetary missions more practical.


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Have the new iPhone 14 Pro? These iOS 16.1 features will blow your mind
iPhone 14 Pro has received a ton of new features, courtesy of the new iOS 16.1 update. Check out the top features coming to your iPhone.
First Published Date: 18 Nov, 20:10 IST
NEXT ARTICLE BEGINS


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These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.Market Insiderread more
But the bank's net interest margin, a key metric of bank profitability, falls short of expectations.Financeread more
The CEO of railroad operator CSX is sounding alarm on the U.S. economy, calling it "unusual" and "puzzling" as it weighs on the company's shipping volumes.Marketsread more
If the S&P 500 climbs another 4%, it will have doubled the peak reached in the previous bull market, Michael Santoli notes.Trading Nationread more
Ascending triangle patterns have been appearing across the stock market, and they tend to be precursors to higher prices, says Miller Tabak's Matt Maley.Trading Nationread more
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on WednesdayInvestingread more
The EU opened a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon on Wednesday centered on how the e-commerce giant uses merchants' data.Technologyread more
Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing firm that is often referred to as the Airbnb for cars.Technologyread more
Mortgage interest rates surged last week to their highest level in a month, and consequently homebuyers turned on their heels.Real Estateread more
U.S. officials see the deal as a threat to NATO, for which Turkey provides the second-largest military.World Politicsread more
Google's services have been blocked in China for several years, but the company still has a business there, as the tech giant seeks to sell products to Chinese firms in...Technologyread more
PepsiCo reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher sales at its Frito-Lay snack business, and said it would buy back shares worth up to $12 billion.
The company's stock, which has been under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, was up more nearly 2 percent in early afternoon trading on Wednesday.
Pepsi also hiked its annual dividend by 7.3 percent to $2.81 per share and said it expects to return about $8.5 billion to $9 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks this year.
Peltz's Trian Fund Management has been pushing Pepsi for about two years to separate its flourishing snack division from its beverage business to make two leaner and more entrepreneurial companies.
Sales in the company's North American snack business rose 3 percent. The division, which accounted for 21 percent of total sales in fiscal 2013, has been a bright spot for Pepsi, helping its stock vastly outperform that of larger rival Coca-Cola in the past year.
Pepsi's chief financial officer, Hugh Johnston, told CNBC it was a "terrific quarter."
"PepsiCo really does have a lot of momentum, both in terms of our large customers and our small customers. The business is really performing well right now," he said Wednesday in an interview with "Squawk on the Street. "
He also thinks lower gas prices will begin to help, but said the process is evolutionary in nature and will build slowly.
"History tells us it will take about six to eight months to fully feel that affect and I expect that will happen again this time."
However, he told Reuters macroeconomic conditions remained tough and that the stronger dollar was a challenge for everybody.
The dollar has surged about 20 percent against a basket of major currencies, making overseas sales denominated in other currencies less valuable in dollar terms.
Pepsi's net revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 27 fell about 1 percent to $19.95 billion, hurt mainly by a stronger dollar.
Net income attributable to the Purchase, New York-based company fell to $1.31 billion, or 87 cents per share, in the quarter, from $1.74 billion, or $1.12 per share.
Excluding items the company earned $1.12 per share.
Analysts on average expected profit of $1.08 per share on revenue of $19.66 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
—CNBC contributed to this report.


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Linear TV may still lead the way, but if analysts’ predictions ring true, it’s very much a for-now thing.
Already this year, we heard Netflix CEO proclaim the death of linear in five to ten years. And former Disney CEO Bob Iger is riding the same wave of belief that linear’s ending is just a stone’s throw away.
That is the prediction we heard when Steven Cahall, Managing Director & Senior Equity Analyst at Wells Fargo, went on stage at Programmatic I/O 2022 and took attendees on an emotional roller coaster ride outlining what’s next for linear TV and AVOD. “The old business is not good,” he said, “and the new business has not proven itself.”
While projecting intricately detailed graphs and charts on the big screen, Cahall presented his 2023 revenue estimate revisions by advertising channel, revealing that most traditional advertising channels aren’t doing so poorly. And linear publishers have yet to worry about the massive ad spend cuts everyone else is experiencing. Advertisers are predominantly slashing their digital budgets.
Cable/Broadcast Networks, Digital Audio, and Programmatic/Ad Tech will all see significant drops in revenue, with AVOD, streaming, and CTV predicted to experience the steepest revenue plunges of 10%-25% in 2023. It’s also significant that agencies like Inter Public Group and Omnicon haven’t cut spending as much as others reportedly have.
“What this tells somebody like me is that while there are challenges in this whole media ecosystem and advertising ecosystem, many of these traditional businesses like networks have very resilient models,” Cahall said.
The Accuracy of Viewership
When it comes to viewership, there is a big difference between subscribers and viewers. Viewers exist on linear and streaming, but viewership is more accurate on linear. Folks aren’t required to log in on linear. In contrast, with AVOD, people share login information left and right, so the subscription model is not an accurate representation of viewer data.
We live in times where CPM pricing is through the roof, but we are mainly seeing this in linear in the areas of sports, broadcast, and cable. This conundrum is interesting because, despite the volume of television watching going down, CPM prices are still going up.
While streaming is a better alternative to television, the muscle memory and entrenched way the market works means that the dollars haven’t yet reflected the behavior change. Ultimately, CPMs are still more costly on linear than AVOD because currently, in advertising, you make more money monetizing a viewer on linear than on streaming.
“Subscribers aren’t viewers in the bundle ecosystem in the AVOD world,” Cahall explained. “When you compare bundle subscribers, it’s like comparing users of Microsoft Access. I think we all probably pay for Microsoft Access as part of Microsoft Office, and I bet none of us have ever used it. And unfortunately, that’s what a lot of media networks are today. So they don’t have real subscribers. They have real viewers.”
The Bag Will Follow the Eyeballs
Over the next two years, streaming power players like Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount Plus will need to start cannibalizing real dollars out of linear. While Cahall does not see Netflix receiving instant gratification from its new ad model, which is active in a few weeks, he anticipates the addition to the service to solve ecosystem issues as we get into 2024-2025.
Cahall’s initial closing point was that the bag will always follow the eyeballs. In 2015, Bob Iger at Disney talked about cord-cutting. In 2022 it’s gotten so bad that we have seen about a dozen mergers.
Netflix and Disney+ introducing ads will benefit the ecosystem down the line and maybe even inspire other AVOD platforms to do the same. It may be the end of Disney on TV as we know it. “Disney sees their future as streaming, so they’re not necessarily in a position to protect the rest of the ecosystem like they have been in the past,” Cahall explained.
The fact of the matter is Wall Street is not a fan of linear, and with that being said analysts believe that more sports on streaming can also help speed up the shift away from the idiot box, as my grandmother used to call it. Just like the cookie, linear is also dying out slowly but surely.


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The friction between the city of London and rideshare company, Uber, has been ongoing for years. Given that Londoners pride themselves on their signature black cabs, the concept of gigging drivers diluting that market was an uphill battle from the beginning.
But Uber persisted, gaining significant market share and a slew of happy customers, which upset the establishment, both in politics and in the transportation industry. An ongoing back-and- forth continued, with consumers increasingly voting with their wallets for rideshare options, forcing elected officials to bend to the public will. That honeymoon may be over.
Recently, London’s transit authority refused to renew Uber’s operating license, a move the ride-sharing company plans to appeal.
The reasoning for the move centers on concerns about “passenger safety and security,” which is a refrain many local governments have used to limit or stop Uber from operating within their jurisdiction. Regardless of whether there is merit to these allegations – that’s open to interpretation and won’t be adjudicated here – the real issue is how officials walk the line between consumer demand and powerful transportation industry lobbies.
And now that issue is spilling out of the courts and into the media. Uber greeted the announcement with anger, calling the decision “extraordinary and wrong,” while officials cited “several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk” in defense of the decision not to renew the company’s license to operate. Transportation officials were not done, saying Uber was responsible for “thousands of rides given by unauthorized drivers” and for allowing “potentially unlicensed and uninsured” drivers to operate as Uber rideshare providers.
Notice the couched language there: “potentially.” The idea with this kind of language is to insinuate that the company definitely is guilty, but to have plausible deniability if the actual evidence fails to support this claim. In this case, expect any response by Uber to challenge this imbedded accusation as unfair or unsupported.
Regardless of how this goes in court, this case will be heavily influenced by the court of public opinion. If more Londoners and tourists continue to push for rideshare options, the elected officials who depend on their votes and their dollars will have no choice but to seek some kind of compromise, even if it aggravates the traditional cab industry, to which officials also owe some allegiance.
In this, Uber has an opportunity. The company should continue to create easy ways for its customers to insist on using Uber, celebrate using Uber, and depend on using Uber. Offering incentives, free services, and positive stories about the brand will endear the company to customers, who will then exert political pressure on officials making the regulatory decisions.


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As we all know the number of car sales has increased in the world in last few years. The same trend is setup in Pakistan too. Pakistan Auto Manufacturers Association (PAMA) has released automotive figures for the fiscal year. The big three manufactures Toyota, Suzuki, and Honda has sold record the 180,000 vehicles during this fiscal year. The previous sales record was the 164,000 vehicles which were for the 2007-08. In these figures the imported cars are not included which has the huge sales in Pakistan.
The sales across the board have been on the rise sans a couple of categories. Talking just about the passenger cars (sedans and hatchback), automakers sold 150,063 units in these 12 months. Putting it in percentage, that is an increase of 17.6pc. One can argue that 17.6pc increase sounds trivial but in a broader perspective, it is definitely a step in the right direction.
The increasing of the cars due to Govt. self employment scheme, low rate of interest on cars installments by banks, decreasing the fuel prices, and low rate of increasing the prices of the cars.
Suzuki Best Selling Cars Models:
Suzuki has the monopoly on the low rate cars. Because of this the Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Cultus was the top of the list in most selling Suzuki cars in Pakistan. The sale of Suzuki Bolan has been also increased because of the Govt. employment Scheme. Suzuki Wagon R and Suzuki Swift are also included of top selling model in Pakistan.
Toyota Top Selling Cars Models:
Honda Top Selling Cars Models.


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BEAVERTON, Ore., March 15, 2010 – Tektronix, the world's leading manufacturer of oscilloscopes, today announced that the MSO70000 Series Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes has won one of the prestigious “Product of the Year” Awards, run by Elektronik magazine in Germany. The winners were chosen by the magazine’s readers, who voted for the smartest and most innovative electronic products in the industry.
The award organizers nominated 111 products this year in 10 different categories – in the category of test and measurement, the Tektronix MSO70000 Series has won third place. On March 11, Christian Balland, senior sales manager for Germany at Tektronix accepted the award on behalf of Tektronix.
“I think there are two key factors behind our success,” said Balland. “First, we have a really fantastic product which, in the words of the judges, offers a significant leap forward in terms of performance and capabilities. Secondly, I think that people are impressed by the fact that Tektronix has continued to deliver truly innovative new products, even in a year as tough as 2009.”
About the MSO70000 Series
Introduced in October 2009, the MSO70000 Series, the industry’s first high-performance family of integrated MSOs, provides up to 20 channels of measurement capture (4 analog and 16 digital) with analogbandwidth ranging from 4 to 20 GHz and 80 ps digital channel timing resolution.
The MSO70000 combines the signal visibility and timing features of a high performance logic analyzer with the analog precision, probing and usability of a high performance real-time oscilloscope. This makes it the ideal debug and verification tool for such demanding high-speed design applications as DDR memory, high performance ASICs, FPGAs, system-on-a-chip devices, and digital RF. In addition, the MSO70000 delivers the widest variety of probing accessories for making both analog and digital connections to the device under test (DUT) with minimal disruption.
“Higher-speed MSOs are becoming more important as bus speeds increase in frequency and type. The need to visualise multiple digital buses of gigabit speeds simultaneously while performing analog debug beyond 4 GHz is critical,” said Brian Reich, vice president, Performance Oscilloscopes, Tektronix. “In today’s challenging economic environment, an all-in-one solution like the Tektronix MSO70000 offers customers an unmatched combination of performance and versatility for debugging these increasingly complex systems.”
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge atwww.tektronix.com.
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Steel demand at high levels
Steel customers should prepare for another possible rise in the price of mill sections of £20 to £30 per tonne around May warns the BCSA, following rises of £20 per tonne in October 2005 and in February this year.
But these sections price increases are thought unlikely to push the price of fabricated steelwork beyond the 5% increase already projected by BCSA for 2006.
BCSA Director General Dr Derek Tordoff says the situation beyond June is harder to predict, but any further increases are not expected to be at levels higher than those for May.
Dr Tordoff said: “All construction products are currently facing raw material and energy price increases and, although steel is not the worst affected material, these pressures, combined with higher steel demand levels, lower stocks and higher prices in other regions of the world, are resulting in the steel mills indicating that the conditions are right for them to introduce higher market prices for structural sections.”
It is understood from the sections supply chain that stockholders/distributors, which have seen their margins squeezed in recent months, are likely to recover the price increases and more at the earliest opportunity.
Plates products prices are thought to have reached their base line and some price recovery will emerge in the spring.
Steel construction demand is currently at very high levels, with order books extending into the autumn and beyond. BCSA says new project enquiries reported by members are good and, with steel continuing to win market share, the forward workload projections for 2007 are excellent.


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Russian Startups Examine Growth Opportunities and Advantages in Dubai Market
Dubai, UAE: Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently participated in a roundtable in Moscow which familiarised Russian startups with Dubai’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and growth opportunities that the emirate offers.
The roundtable, organised by Dubai World Trade Centre and PROFEX, provided valuable insights on Dubai’s business environment, fast-growing startup sector, and the various accelerator and incubator programmes, initiatives, services and resources that are available to entrepreneurs in the emirate.
During the roundtable, Natalia Sycheva, Manager of Entrepreneurship for Dubai Chamber, highlighted the wide range of business opportunities available for innovative startups in Dubai, in particular those that specialise in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and smart city solutions.
She noted that the UAE has put into place to foster innovation, including its existing strategies focusing specifically on navigating the Fourth Industrial Revolution and adopting artificial intelligence, blockchain and 3D printing, adding that international startups are playing a major role in these growth areas.
Sycheva delivered an informative presentation about the value-added benefits and practical support that Dubai Startup Hub provides to aspiring and established entrepreneurs in Dubai, as well as its programmes, initiatives and events that are designed to provide participants and members with clarity and guidance throughout their entrepreneurial journey.
She outlined the benefits of participating in the Market Access and Co-Founder Dubai, which pair innovative startups with business partners and mentors, and noted that Dubai Startup Hub is seeing growing interest and participation from startups that are based outside of the UAE that are keen to expand their footprint in the Middle East and surrounding markets.
A key focus of the roundtable was GITEX Technology Week, the biggest technology exhibition in the MENA & South Asia region, hosted in Dubai every year. Russian startups were briefed about the advantages and exposure it can offer IT companies and startups that exhibit at the annual event.
In addition, representatives from Russia’s Ministry of Economy, Dubai World Trade Centre, Russian Expocentre, Internet Initiatives Development Fund, Russian Center of Digital Innovation & ICT, Russoft Association, and Skolkovo Foundation participated in the discussions held during the roundtable and explored new avenues of cooperation between Russian and UAE startups.


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Australia’s retail sales posted a fourth straight month of solid growth in November and current indications show shops are enjoying a bumper Christmas season as stronger employment and falling fuel prices prop up consumer sentiment.
Friday’s data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed retail sales rose 0.4 percent in November, from October when they increased by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent. The biggest gains came in homewares, clothing and eating out.
Combined with record demand for new cars, consumers are doing their part to offset a mining slump. Household spending accounts for 56 percent of Australia’s AUD1.6 trillion annual economic output, while mining is less than 9 percent.
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Online )


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When looking at the state of the many marketplaces in which Google competes, it’s hard to find much trouble with what the company is doing. Google is leading in search, its Android platform is second to none, its advertising services are dominant, and it’s now delivering Nexus-branded devices with its vendor partners that are truly putting Apple on notice. In so many ways, Google is tops.
At the Google I/O Developers Conference keynote May 15, Google proved that once again. From announcing a new music service to showing off a Nexus-branded Galaxy S 4, the company has shown that it truly understands what consumers want, and knows how to deliver it to them. And through its own convincingly sly way, the company has built itself a path to more revenue, profits and power. Google is simply looking more and more like a dominant beast that cannot be held back.
But what made the event so important? Read on to find out why the developer conference is such a resounding success.
1. It was all about Google
Google did a good job of focusing all its time during the conference keynote on its products’ success. Gone are the days when Google feels that it needs to compare its services to those of others. Google now knows who it is and what it has achieved, and it wants the world to know about it.
2. Galaxy S 4, anyone?
The Galaxy S 4 announcement was another interesting development from the conference. Google collaborated with Samsung to create a special Samsung Galaxy S 4 for Google Play. Google said a Nexus-branded S 4 will be available to customers on T-Mobile and AT&T networks. That smartphone will strip away Samsung’s software and give the straight Android experience. It’s an interesting move that has caught the attention of industry observers.
3. Bring on the music service
As expected, Google showed off what is effectively its first major step into the world of streaming music with Google Play Music: All Access. The service, which will be offered for $10 per month, is designed to take on both Spotify and Pandora. And if Google has its way, it’ll become a huge presence in that market.
4. Apple who?
One of the key takeaways from the event was that most people forgot about Apple. Google did such a good job at showing off its wares that people didn’t care about what the next iPhone would offer or whether Apple would respond with something similar. Apple was the lost shadow at Google I/O. And that’s a first for that conference.
Google I/O Was a Resounding Success: 10 Reasons Why
5. Developers became excited
Although much of the talk centered on what Google was doing from a development perspective, the company’s new initiatives and products provide ample opportunity for Web and mobile developers to take advantage. That’s great news for developers who are looking increasingly to leverage their reliance on Google’s services.
6. Consumers see value in becoming Google fans
Undoubtedly many people are diehard Google fans. But historically, they’ve been small in number. With Google I/O showing off so many interesting and “cool” takes on services and hardware, Google effectively made it worthwhile to be a fanboy or fangirl of the company. That’s important. After all, that’s a key reason Apple has proved so successful.
7. It handled the messaging problem
Google had one major issue walking into the conference: how it was going to handle the many different messaging applications it has running on its slew of services. It handled that with help from Hangouts, which will now work across different platforms and essentially establish itself as the go-to way that Google service users communicate.
8. Google Now becomes a bit better
Google Now received some attention at the I/O conference with the search giant saying the personal assistant will now have voice reminders, better information on appointments and some other key improvements that should make using the application a bit easier. Even better for Google, it makes Apple wonder what the future looks like as Siri takes on Now.
9. Google proved software is the new hardware
Historically, people really only get excited when new hardware is introduced. That’s why so much attention has always been placed on Apple and its services. But with the I/O conference, Google has proved that software and services really can be the new hardware. And that should only improve the company’s ability to capture consumer attention in the coming years.
10. Google gets gaming
The fact is, the company that invests the most in digital gaming will be the firm that generates billions in new revenue. And Google obviously understands that. That’s precisely why Google announced that its Play Games platform will provide a host of important services, including cloud saves, synced multiplayer and achievement tracking. All that makes Play Games a true competitor to Apple’s Game Center and a key player in digital gaming.


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- Is TikTok a spy app?
- Is TikTok deleting accounts in 2020?
- Why did TikTok take down my video?
- Does TikTok steal your information 2020?
- Why is TikTok hated?
- Why is TikTok banned in US?
- How is TikTok a threat?
- What countries have banned TikTok?
- Did TikTok get banned in US?
- Which country banned TikTok first?
- What are the dangers of TikTok?
- Why is TikTok deleting accounts?
- Why is TikTok banned in the US?
- Has Tik Tok been hacked?
Is TikTok a spy app?
Security researchers have found that the TikTok iPhone app is spying on its users by secretly reading the clipboard..
Is TikTok deleting accounts in 2020?
Unfortunately, we are planning on shutting down TikTok on 1/25/20 due to many users leaving the app. On 1/25/20, all profiles will be deleted, the app will no longer be available on the App Store, Google Play, or the Amazon App Store. TikTok is deleting on early 2020 Channel 45 News.
Why did TikTok take down my video?
If you ‘accidentally’ upload too many copyrighted works, your account could even be shutdown. It’s important to note that this may also extend to other material, such as artwork or films, which may find their way into your TikTok video. … Or you may have your video taken down before it even takes off.
Does TikTok steal your information 2020?
If you opt in, TikTok says it can collect your phone and social-network contacts, your GPS position and your personal information such as age and phone number along with any user-generated content you post, such as photos and videos. It can store payment information, too.
Why is TikTok hated?
But, a lot of people—millions of people hate TikTok because of their narrow mindedness. … TikTok is a platform for such people. Quora is a platform for knowledge hungry people. And these both platforms have cringe and vulgar content.
Why is TikTok banned in US?
On 6 August, Donald Trump published executive orders targeting the viral video app TikTok and messaging app WeChat. The orders declared that the two apps would be blocked from processing transactions for US citizens and from being downloaded in US app stores after 45 days, or on 20 September, due to security concerns.
How is TikTok a threat?
The concern is that TikTok could funnel American users’ personal data to the Chinese Communist Party, “potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage,” according to Trump’s recent executive …
What countries have banned TikTok?
It has been banned by the government of India since June 2020 along with 223 other Chinese apps in response to a border clash with China. Pakistan banned TikTok citing ‘immoral’ and ‘indecent’ videos on 9 October 2020 but reversed its ban ten days later on 19 October 2020.
Did TikTok get banned in US?
The injunction means that TikTok will remain online and usable in the United States past Nov. … TikTok was set to be effectively banned in the United States on Nov. 12 after President Trump issued an executive order in August stating it was a national security threat due to its parent company’s ties to China.
Which country banned TikTok first?
Along with India, the U.S. is among the first countries to impose an outright ban on TikTok, but there are other countries around the world considering similar measures. Japan is also thinking about imposing a ban on the platform that’s nationwide, and Indonesia actually enacted a temporary ban on the platform in 2018.
What are the dangers of TikTok?
Unpacking TikTok, Mobile Apps and National Security RisksRisk 1: TikTok Collecting Data on U.S. Government Employees. … Risk 2: TikTok Collecting Data on U.S. Persons Not Employed by the Government. … Risk 3: TikTok Censoring Information in China at Beijing’s Behest. … Risk 4: TikTok Censoring Information Beyond China at Beijing’s Behest. … Risk 5: Disinformation on TikTok.More items…•
Why is TikTok deleting accounts?
Some TikTok users are having their accounts and videos deleted without warning after inputting a birthdate that would make them younger than 13, following a change to the app’s terms yesterday regarding children’s privacy law.
Why is TikTok banned in the US?
Why is the US government banning TikTok and WeChat? The executive orders argue TikTok and WeChat should be banned from the U.S. market due to national security concerns. … U.S. officials also worry the apps censor political speech and could be used to spread misinformation.
Has Tik Tok been hacked?
In April, TikTok told Forbes a fix was underway. Research published by Check Point, a cybersecurity company in Israel, found that the app’s security vulnerabilities allowed hackers to manipulate content, delete videos and reveal personal information.


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The novel features in these phones aren't going to be necessities for everyone. But if you're in need of that particular feature, you're going to love it.
Samsung's previous flagship Galaxy S5 was outsold in its second full month of global sales by Apple's older iPhone 5S, according to researcher Counterpoint.
Samsung India sent teaser invites earlier this week to the media stating the launch of ‘The Grandest Ever’ smartphone next week.
This display will be curved on both edges, much like an analyst predicted in November, but not in quite the same way that the Galaxy Note Edge is.
We took the all-new Samsung Galaxy A7 out for a quick test drive and here's what we think about the smartphone.
Compared to the Note 3, the Note 4 is just 0.2mm thicker and 8 grams heavier – impressive, considering the use of real metal this time around.
The phone is available online on Amazon.in at Rs 17,999 in both white frost and deep black colour variants. It was previously available at Rs 21,900.
Samsung is taking a different approach with its flagship mobile products in 2015, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.


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Tips for swapping retailers
As government staggers toward a solution for Australia’s energy woes, online energy brokers are reporting a large increase in the number of calls from business and residential consumers desperate to secure a better deal from energy retailers
Corporate Affairs manager for online comparison service, iSelect, Laura Crowden, recently spoke to The Bulletin and revealed that over the 2017 June to August billing period, iSelect had received a 26 percent increase in the number of inquiries compared with the same period last year.
This year iSelect assisted over 16,000 customers to find a cheaper energy plan. While most online inquirers were introduced to a new retailer, about 20% were helped to find better deal from their existing supplier.
There were also many consumers already on better deals, but had not been told by their provider that their plan would automatically revert to a more expensive, standard version on expiry.
“This is known in our industry as the lazy tax,” said Laura. “It allows retailers to profit from not keeping customers better informed. Householders and businesses need to be much more proactive these days and keep a closer watch on their energy providers.”
iSelect research shows that more NSW households are worried about their energy bill this winter than last year, partly due to the latest price hikes which will see customers in NSW paying up to 17 per cent more.
One in five households going into debt or hardship program
“With homeowners shivering through another cold winter, it’s concerning that over two million NSW households may be using their heating less due to concerns about energy costs,”
“And it’s not just heating,” Laura said, “our study suggests that many NSW households are also cutting back on essentials like food and clothing to afford their energy bills.”
Despite making cut-backs, almost one in five NSW households reported going into debt, or being placed on a hardship program during the past 12 months as a result of rising energy bills.
Laura pointed out that while winter energy costs are clearly hurting NSW households, just 16 per cent of homes surveyed had switched providers or plan in the last year to get a better deal.
“Thousands of NSW households could be paying more than they need to for energy by not taking advantage of some of the generous introductory offers or discounts energy companies are offering to new customers.“
Laura offered 5 tips for finding a better deal.
- Save money with the right plan – reducing your consumption won’t necessarily reduce your bill significantly. The best way to save money is to make sure you are on the best value plan to begin with.
- Use a flexible payment option – pay your bills weekly, fortnightly or monthly, or sign up for bill smoothing which will divide your annual usage into even monthly installments, avoiding bill shock.
- Be wary of pay on time discounts – paying on time could save you up 30 per cent but if you often pay your bills late, you could end up paying a lot more than you expected
- Look out for special offers – increased competition means some retailers are offering generous introductory offers or rebates to entice new customers such as credit towards your account
- Shop around – use increased energy competition to your advantage by comparing current offers. Call an energy comparison service like iSelect and make sure you have a copy of your latest bill handy
How to switch your plan or retailer
Readers experiencing difficulty with energy bills, and needing advice on how to switch, can consult a number of online energy advisors for help and to compare retailers and plans.
Some of these sites will also offer advice and assistance over the phone.
Here are few to get started:
www.energywatch.com.au/energy/comparison — part of iSelect group


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The coffee giant Starbucks is a world-renowned company, operating in hundreds of countries.
Huge amounts will be spent on marketing, PR and advertising, as well as coming up with new and innovative ways of getting more customers in.
But one writer claims to have stumbled on the secret – Great customer service done before the customer has a chance to complain.
Writing for INC.com, columnist Kelly Main revealed all.
In search of a “caffeine-fuelled-pick-me-up” on a boiling hot day, she headed to the local drive-thru for a $4 iced coffee.
After waiting for 20 minutes in the queue, she was pleasantly surprised.
She wrote: ” I got an apology and a free coffee.
“Almost instantly, my angst toward one of the nation’s notoriously slow fast-food chains dissipated–as did the vow I had made to myself to never return.
“With that, a new daydream sprung to mind: Was I actually as frugal as I thought, or just cheap? Regardless, I drove off happy.”
She said the move wasn’t a “huge gesture”, but the sort of move that “keeps customers coming back.”
She wrote: ” While not every business can afford to give products away for free, there are three key lessons every business can take away from Starbucks’s $4 customer service trick.
“All of which can help inform operational decisions, while simultaneously increasing both staff and customer happiness and loyalty. ”
She revealed she’d decided it was her last trip to Starbucks, due to the wait, but the fact that Starbucks “valued me as a customer” meant a lot more than the $4 she saved.
She said: ” By putting its short-term profits aside, and the losses that would come from giving away orders, the store gave customers a tremendous amount of value, and an even greater amount of goodwill.”
Staff need to proactively make things right
Away from her trip to Starbucks, Main points out really good customer service is addressing issues proactively so customers don’t have to.
She says: “It’s addressing issues proactively so customers don’t have to. The reason many miss this key element is because it’s easy to overlook the crucial element of empowering staff so they’re not limited to making up for any wrongs, but are proactively making things right.
“The staff on duty that day at Starbucks didn’t wait to take my temperature.
“They preemptively knew customers weren’t going to be thrilled after waiting for so long, and so they did the right thing without being asked to.
“In the case of Starbucks, a free coffee is a small price to pay for a positive experience that keeps its customers and staff coming back. And, chances are, there’s a version of it you can offer in your business as well.”


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Skip to comments.Sausages, bacon tied to early deaths?
Posted on 03/07/2013 7:11:50 PM PST by BenLurkin
LONDON: The bacon and sausage on your plate or those steaming hot pies are increasing your chances of premature death from cancer and heart disease. Processed meat is to blame for one in 30 early deaths, a large-scale study has now found.
The EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study involving 10 countries and 23 centres in Europe and almost half a million people has found that risk of premature death increased with the amount of processed meat eaten by a person. According to the study, even one sausage a day is bad for your health.
The researchers say that salting, curing and smoking of meat gives rise to carcinogens like nitrosamines, and these may be the cause of the increased cancer mortality.
Processed meat products are also high in cholesterol and saturated fats, which are linked with increased risk of heart and circulatory disease.
Professor Sabine Rohrmann from the University of Zurich, who led this analysis explained, "Risks of dying earlier from cancer and cardiovascular disease increased with the amount of processed meat eaten such as sausages, salami or ham. Overall, we estimate that 3% of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20g processed meat per day."
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...
Except in the case of Gertrude Baines, who lived to be 115 on a diet of bacon and eggs.
Was the bacon your grandfather ate cured?
The nitrates put in store bought bacon aren’t so good for us.
Most of the bacon and sausage he ate was store bought.
“He died 3 months short of his 93rd birthday.”
Mine had the same lifestyle. He was still riding a motorcycle at 93. He made it to 96.
My grandfather STRAPPED ON his old ice skates, when he was 75, and skated on his pond. Just to prove to himself that he still could.
To an Italian (like me) a hunk of Italian bread and a slice of sopresatta is like heroin......
I too was thinking of my grandfather. They ate cured meats because there was no refrigeration, their meat staples were ham, bacon, and ham hocks for seasoning...lard for frying. They ate pork because it was cheaper to raise than cows, and as my dad tells it, you didn’t kill a chicken unless the preacher was coming for dinner (too valuable for the eggs they produced.)
Grandpa lived to be in his 90s. His favorite part of the ham was the “cracklin’;”
Perhaps they can use drones to detect, prosecute and murder the offending sausage dealers, I dunno, just a thought.
I don’t know how long I would want to live eating cous-cous and leaves every day. Eighty years? I don’t think so; that sort of diet would be a prison sentence.
I saw nitrate free bacon in Kroger the other day. Interesting, must be pretty new on the market.
Nitrates or not, bacon is God’s food. That settles it.
After eating all the bacon and sausage he liked my grand dad says he should have died in 1792 ...
They’re much better tasting with champagne.......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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This is an amalgamation of the “best bits” of the daily weekday newsletter/blog woven together to form a concise and coherent view on the things that matter in the commercial and economic news of the week.
THE DAY IN BRACKETS REFERS TO THE EDITION WHERE THE STORY APPEARED IN WATSON’S DAILY. Clicking on the day will take you to the appropriate edition of Watson’s Daily.
AMERICA STAYS STEADY, EUROPE WOBBLES AND THE OIL PRICE HITS $60 A BARREL...
- The Fed reiterated its commitment to low interest rates (Thursday) as chief Jerome Powell keeps everything unchanged, including the 2% inflation target.
- China may actually get a coronavirus boost this month (Friday) as the traditional mass migration of workers to their respective home towns and villages is likely to be way lower than normal due to travel restrictions. This means that factories will stay open and exports won’t have their normal dip at this time of year. China continues to win at the moment!
- In Europe, Mario Draghi is getting close to putting together an Italian government (Tuesday) as he brings opposite sides of the coalition together while EC boss Ursula von der Leyen eats humble pie (Thursday) and admits shortcomings in her centralised vaccination distribution strategy
- The oil price returned to pre-Covid levels as it breached $60 a barrel (Tuesday). Oil bulls will say that prices should rise due to a combination of vaccine rollout, co-ordinated economic stimulus packages and potential supply shortages from having cut projects and capacity last year. Oil bears will say that China demand is already at normal levels and that hopes of European and US recovery are too optimistic.
- In specific oil company news, Total was the latest major to announce a big loss (Wednesday), but it was actually less than everyone had been expecting. BP paid £900m for rights to build wind farms in the Irish sea (Tuesday) and Shell announced that it would be carbon-neutral by 2050
M&A ACTIVITY CONTINUED AND BUMBLE MADE ITS DEBUT...
- Match Group bought South Korean media company Hyperconnect for €1.73bn (Wednesday) – its biggest ever acquisition. It signals a departure from its core dating-focused business. While we are on the subject of dating, Bumble had a successful IPO (Friday), proving continued investor interest in IPOs and tech stocks.
- Electronic Arts bought Glu Mobile for $2.4bn (Tuesday) as part of its aim to become “a market leader in lifestyle and sports”
- The UK had its fastest start to M&A deals since the 2008 financial crisis (Monday) and I think momentum will continue to pick up as more businesses get distressed the longer lockdown goes on and investors continue to accumulate cash
- Kraft Heinz sold Planters peanuts sale to Hormel Foods for $3.35bn (Friday) as part of its plans to cut debt levels
BITCOIN GOT MORE ENDORSEMENT, MUSK SHOWED HIS POWER AND CANNABIS GOT THE REDDIT TREATMENT...
- Bitcoin got endorsement from Tesla at the beginning of the week (Tuesday) as the EV manufacturer revealed that it had spent $1.5bn on the cryptocurrency. Then it turned out that both Uber and Mastercard have plans to accept Bitcoin payment (Friday), sending it even further north!
- Trading-advice-hub-of-the-moment Reddit raised $250m in its latest funding round (Tuesday) and said that it would spend the money on video, advertising and consumer products
- Cannabis attracted the attention of amateur traders this week (Thursday) after targeting the likes of GameStop, AMC Entertainment and silver in the last couple of weeks. Tilray’s share price shot up by over 50% in trading on Wednesday!
...WHILE THE HIGH STREET AND RETAILERS CONTINUE TO HAVE A BUMPY RIDE...
- Our high streets are going to be increasingly “gappy” once lockdown lifts as Debenhams on Oxford Street is due to close down next week (Wednesday). This probably explains why landlords are going to be losing out on £140m in rent (Tuesday) as Boohoo bought the remnants of Arcadia (Tuesday) – but not the shops. The trend of online apparel retailers buying brands but not the outlets continues…meanwhile, Frasers Group sold its 25% stake in French Connection (Tuesday) at a loss compared to its purchase price.
- In restaurants, coronavirus restrictions have hit hard. The new owner of Prezzo is closing more restaurants (Thursday) but drinks companies including Carlsberg (Monday), Heineken (Thursday) and Coca-Cola (Thursday) have also suffered as a result of people not being able to go out. On the other hand, Fulham Shore is ploughing ahead with expansion of its pizza chain Franco Manca (Tuesday) as landlords fall over themselves to offer them rent-free prime sites.
- In groceries, Sainsbury’s is putting pressure on Aldi (Thursday) by price-matching 250 products and we saw official figures confirming what we already know – that online grocery shopping has been increasing (Wednesday) under lockdown
AND IN UPDATES FOR WATSON'S YEARLY...
- Watson’s Yearly updates: These will be left until the next edition of Watson’s Yearly that will be published shortly
I’m just going to leave you this week with my favourite Japanese yodeller, Takeo Ishci in one of his more recent works, Chicken Pig Attack. Watch out for the dodgy lyrics – but hey, you just can’t fault the yodelling 👍. Gotta love YouTube for things like this! Have a great weekend!


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The Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (Agrotrade) states that Vietnamese mango export turnover endured a drop of 9% to US$180.8 million last year in comparison to 2019, with this fall largely being caused by the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic interrupting the flow of goods globally.
At present, China remains the largest consumer of local mangoes, with turnover reaching US$151.8 million, thereby making up 83.95% of the nation’s total export turnover, followed by Russia, Papua New Guinea, the United States, the Republic of Korea (RoK), the EU, Japan, and Hong Kong (China).
Most notably, several demanding markets, including the US, the RoK, and Australia have moved to increase their import of Vietnamese mangoes.
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the nation represents the 14th largest mango supplier to the US with export volume increasing sharply to 2,100 tonnes worth US$4.61 million, marking a rise of 66% in volume and 70.1% in value compared to 2019.
Furthermore, the average import price from the country remains relatively high at US$2.2 per kilo, representing an increase of 2.5% compared to figures from 2019. Despite this growth, the market share of local mangoes continues to remain low, accounting for only 0.3% of the US’ total mango imports, with fresh and frozen mangoes proving to be popular export items.
Moreover, the nation ranks fourth among the largest mango suppliers to the RoK, making up 6.2% of their total mango imports.
At present, Vietnamese mangoes enjoy plenty of advantages in terms of being granted licenses to export to the US and Australia markets due to the use of 30-day storage technology. This is along with benefits gained from numerous free trade agreements which are anticipated to help the country enjoy easier access to both regional and global markets.
Experts have therefore underscored the importance of the development of value chains by strengthening connectivity among producers, buyers, and export businesses, along with processing and packaging stages, in line with the stringent regulations set out by foreign importers.
Moving forward, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also recommended that localities continue to register mango-growing areas whilst issuing codes of farming zones, and apply competent agricultural practices in production.


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Carl Malamud runs the website public.resource.org, an otherwise boring website that serves the important function of “publishing and sharing public domain materials.” Among the public domain materials is the Georgia state law (or the Official Code of Georgia Annotated). The state of Georgia is not cool with this.
The state is suing Malamud for publishing the laws online, saying it infringes on the copyright of state laws, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. (A representative from the Georgia State capitol told Fusion that the OCGA isn’t in their system, meaning the code wouldn’t be accessible otherwise.) Also, they called it “a form of terrorism,” referencing a joking remark Malamud apparently made in a book he published 20 years ago.
Here’s the money portion of the lawsuit:
Defendant has facilitated, enabled, encouraged and induced others to view, download, print, copy, and distribute the O.C.G.A copyrighted annotations without limitation, authorization, or appropriate compensation.
And here’s the part…
View original post 105 more words


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Chatham-based Preferred Freezer Services (PFS) announces its newest facility in Woodbridge Township. PFS is a continually expanding global leader in the cold storage, warehousing, and logistics industry. PFS began with a single warehouse in New Jersey 25 years ago. The newest Woodbridge Township facility, the company’s eighth cold storage facility in New Jersey and its thirty-fifth worldwide, represents PFS’s sustained momentum and enduring commitment to being the best in temperature-controlled warehousing.
The freezer will occupy 142,889 square feet with a 29,715 square foot loading dock. The facility will add 8.4 million cubic feet of storage capacity and 26,000 pallet positions.
“We are proud to continue to invest and expand in our home state, in and around the New York/New Jersey port. Our building, refrigeration, and lighting are industry leading, maximizing efficiency,” said John Galiher, Chief Executive Officer of Preferred Freezer Services.
The Woodbridge facility will start accepting product on Monday April 20th, 2015. An open house celebration will follow.
For more information on our newest Woodbridge facility, contact Sales Manager Michael Bowman at (973) 876-5599/ firstname.lastname@example.org. For information on all thirty four PFS locations, please visit www.PreferredFreezer.com or contact Dan DiDonato at 973-820-4040.


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Restaurant Brands reports first quarter profit down from year ago mark
The parent company of Tim Hortons reported its first-quarter revenue totalled nearly $1.27 billion, up from $1.25 billion a year ago
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as comparable sales at its Tim Hortons locations fell.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported a profit attributable to common shareholders of US$135 million or 53 cents per diluted share compared with a profit of $148 million or 59 cents per diluted share a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes restaurants said it earned $255 million or 55 cents per diluted share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $314 million or 66 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 58 cents per share for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.
Revenue in the three-month period ended March 31 totalled nearly $1.27 billion, up from $1.25 billion a year ago.
The increase came as comparable store sales at Tim Hortons fell 0.6%, while Burger King comparable sales increased 2.2%. Popeyes comparable sales increased 0.6%.


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HTC has launched the Vive Focus, an all-in-one virtual reality headset that does away with external cables and tracking beacons.
Instead, the Vive Focus has all the hardware it needs to power VR apps and games within the headset itself. Key specs include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chip, the likes of which can be found in the Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy S8 phones, a high-resolution AMOLED display, and a sensors that provide tracking for the user and their position in a virtual world.
Rather than offer the full experience of the HTC Vive without the wires, the Vive Focus and its specs reveal something akin to a VR headset with a powerful smartphone in it with additional sensors.
This would make sense as HTC had been planning on working with Google to make a VR headset based on the search giant’s Daydream VR platform, but it would appear that those plans have been cancelled and the Vive Focus happened instead.
Design-wise, the Vive Focus looks a little like the original HTC Vive has been mixed with the PlayStation VR headset. It sports a bight blue finish and has a slightly rounded look to it. A rather basic-looking touch and motion tracking controller also looks to be part of the Vive Touch package.
Currently, HTC has only revealed plans to release the Vive Focus in China and has kept quiet on release dates and prices, meaning there’s a chance that the headset may never make it West.
Nevertheless, it demonstrated that there’s still an appetite for VR, and given the Vive Focus will support HTC’s newly announced Vive Wave platform for allowing optimised VR development for mobile devices, we can expect to see more VR games and immersive experiences emerge in the very near-future.
Related: Best Black Friday deals
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|Rimonabant blocks the action of the body's naturally produced appetite stimulants, called cannabinoids. Thus, it has the reverse effect of marijuana.
The drug, still in development and known by its generic name rimonabant, may block natural chemicals similar to the ones that cause hunger when marijuana is used, thus acting as an appetite suppressant.
Direct consumer ads
The drug won't hit the market until perhaps 2004 -- if at all. But if it proves a hit, it could generate considerable spending in direct-to-consumer advertising.
As Sanofi conducts tests to gauge the drug's effectiveness, a person familiar with the matter said it is searching for an agency to help craft a marketing message. A decision is expected this month on a U.S. agency for professional and likely consumer communications. The list of contenders could not be determined.
Diet drugs' shrinking sales
Some products in the category have either faced safety concerns or failed to live up to sales expectations.
Hoffmann-La Roche's struggle to make Xenical, billed as a superior weight-loss drug when launched in 1999, a blockbuster is well documented. It saw a decline in U.S. sales from $295.2 million in 2000 to $243.4 million in 2001, according to NDCHealth. Abbott Laboratories' Meridia has seen sales increase from $116.5 million in 2000 to $166.5 million in 2001, but the consumer group Public Citizen has complained about the product's safety.
In their first year, Xenical and Meridia received some $76 million and some $18 million, respectively, in measured ad spending, according to Taylor Nelson Sofres' CMR. But Meridia, then marketed by Knoll Pharmaceutical Co., topped out at some $65 million in 2000.
A spokeswoman in the U.S. for Sanofi was not available to comment.
Need unique seling point
If beneficial efficacy data and/or a unique selling point fail to emerge, Sanofi may decide not to proceed with seeking marketing approval, said the person close to the matter.
"You can see it now," the person said. "They're going to come and say, 'We've got a new obesity drug,' and the first thing the financial people are going to say is, 'Are you going to fail like everybody else?' I think they want to have something very solid."


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"Supply Chain" is a term not many of us thought of before March of 2020. We did, however, enjoy getting what we wanted, when we wanted it. The pandemic changed all that.
"There is no automaker that has not been hindered in some way, shape, or form when it comes to sales because they just simply have no inventory," said Ivan Drury, Senior Dir. of Insights for Edmunds.com.
"Whatever becomes the hot toy of the season in the next month or two may not be there in huge quantities," said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of the Toy Industry Association.
Some of the worst backups are happening in what's called durable goods: appliances, laptops, and furniture. That's because the pandemic changed spending habits.
"People said, 'Well if I can't go on vacation, I'll get a bicycle. Or I'll repaint the house, put in new curtains.' And then they found paint was on backorder, curtains were on backorder because everybody was trying to buy these durable goods that everyone else wanted," explained economic consultant Bill Conerly.
Many businesses also cut back at the outset, expecting a major slow-down in sales.
"Then came summer of last year. Consumer spending was there and all these businesses tried to turn around real fast, but it's hard to turn around real fast," Conerly told CBN News.
Then, according to Conerly, came the perfect storm.
"The Suez Canal got clogged, a couple of the seaports in China were closed because of COVID, the hurricane took down natural gas production, which is a feedstock for a lot of chemicals," he explained.
Still, Conerly believes the biggest overall interruption came in the workforce.
"The shortage of workers is common all around the country, and as a result, businesses that want to increase their production, want to serve their customers better, want to stock up on inventory, they cannot find the workers," Conerly said.
This affects each level of the domestic supply chain; from factories to the trucking industry to distribution centers. And international goods can't get here because of a major backup at our ports. Shipping containers are waiting to unload for up to eight days, due in part to labor shortages at docks.
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First Team Donates 100 Bicycles to Toys for Tots!
First Team Auto and K92 have once again teamed up to help Roanoke Valley children! This year First Team Auto Mall in Roanoke is excited to be continuing our support as an official drop-off location for Toys for Tots in the Roanoke Valley. All toys donated will stay in the Roanoke area (Roanoke, Alleghany, Bath, Craig and Botetourt).
Final Day to Drop Off Toys at First Team is Friday, December 13th.
First Team is proud to be able to help each year with the Toys for Tots program. This year, in addition to being a Toys for Tots drop off center, First Team has donated 100 bikes to Roanoke Valley children for them to enjoy! Together, we can make this holiday season more fun and festive for children in need.
First Team also hosted a special Toy Drive with K92 Radio at the Walmart at Clearbrook Village on Saturday, December 7th. Dozens of people stopped to put gifts in the First Team box truck, to be donated to Toys for Tots. Representatives from The Marines were on hand to help with collecting donations as K92 made live broadcasts from the event.
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. First Team is proud to be a part of this amazing program and to give back to our community.


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Published Jul 05, 2012Big Boi may be best known as one half of Outkast, but he has now added sock designer to his resume.
Speaking to GQ, Big Boi revealed that he apparently has his own line of socks coming out through Atlanta's Crooks & Castles. The conversation was spurred by a pair of Big Boi's own wacky socks, which are pictured above.
The rapper declared, "I'm the sock king! They've got a cape on the back -- that's how I flew here... I got my own socks line coming out with Crooks & Castles. Head over to 677 Antone Street, Atlanta Georgia, 30318 and get some!"
Big Boi recently revealed plans for his upcoming album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours, which is due out November 13. And we all know nothing promotes a new record like a custom line of socks.
He also recently appeared on Theophilus London's Rose Island Vol. 1, and you can listen to their collaborative track "She Said OK" below.


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ECHAGUE, Isabela — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) opened Thursday its 17th Negosyo Center in this town, aimed at bringing the programs and services to the entrepreneurs in the town.
The opening of the Negosyo Center was graced by OIC DTI- 2 Director Ruben Diciano and witnessed by DTI- Isabela Director Salvacion Castillejos and Echague Mayor Francis Faustino Dy.
The Negosyo Center is housed at the local government unit of Echague. Mayor Dy said the LGU- Echague fully supports the programs and projects of DTI for the small and medium entrepreneurs.
Dy said the establishment of a Negosyo Center in the municipality will further encourage would- be entrepreneurs to do business and help the economy of the town.
Castillejos said the Negosyo Center is an avenue for facilitation of business registration like barangay micro business enterprise registration, business name registration and business permit registration.
“The Negosyo Center is also a venue of providing one-on-one advisory services related to MSMEs tailored according to the needs of entrepreneurs like financing, market promotion, training and mentorship and many other services,” Castillejos said during the opening of the Negosyo Center in Echague town.
The Negosyo Center established in Echague town is already the 17th center in Isabela, the other Negosyo Centers were opened last year and now serving the entrepreneurs in the localities of Isabela. PNA-northboundasia.com


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“Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer 6," Microsoft said this week in launching a new site that tracks the progress of pushing IE6 market share below one per cent.
Android smartphones beat out iPhone and BlackBerry devices for the first time in the U.S. in the latest Nielsen Co. survey conducted just prior to Verizon Wireless sales of the iPhone.
Microsoft today launched a deathwatch for its 10-year-old Internet Explorer 6 browser, saying it wanted to "see IE6 gone for good."
After resuming the update to Samsung Windows phones on Wednesday, Microsoft is running into problems again.
A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman would not comment Friday on reports that the agency is investigating patent management firm MPEG LA for allegedly trying to suppress an open-source video compression format supported by Google.
Microsoft is responding to the online coupon frenzy by adding results about special deals to its Bing search engine, both on its desktop and mobile versions.
Microsoft is again updating Samsung's Windows Phone 7-based smartphones, after technical problems forced a halt to the program, it said in a <a href="http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/02/23/more-answers-about-our-fi...
Qualcomm on Tuesday said it is stepping up its software efforts as its chips begin supporting more operating systems, including Microsoft's upcoming Windows OS, which will be targeted at mobile devices, tablets and PCs.
Updated information about the population of Internet users in China and other countries has taken a bite out of Firefox's global market share, according to data from analytics firm Net Applications.
Microsoft Internet Explorer use is dropping and Web application traffic is surging according to one study of how employees at about 2,000 companies made use of the Internet over the past year.
Microsoft has often come up short in its attempts to thaw out relations with open source communities, but the company seems to have found success with PHP developers.
A few months ago, Gianugo Rabellino traded his Linux and Mac PCs for a Windows 7 laptop, left the open source company he founded and moved to Redmond for a new job with Microsoft. His goal: improve Microsoft's credibility within open source circles.
Windows 8 tablets are definitely on the way, but a taste of the finished product could be coming sooner than you think.
The U.S. Senate is debating an overhaul of the nation's patent system this week, but several technology groups have opposed the bill, saying it would hurt innovation and overload the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The Twitter account used to promote Microsoft's Bing search engine went slightly bonkers Monday afternoon, posting a deluge of pre-Oscar party photos.
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There's growing rumours that NME's print edition might be turned into a giveaway. MediaGuardian reports that staff have been told it's an option, but not a done deal:
It is understood that staff were told at an editorial meeting on Wednesday that nothing is set in stone about the future of the magazine but that it will continue.There's a fairly huge question about how a free NME would be distributed; they may or may not be dumped on a shelf at Urban Outfitters, but unquestionably it would make the magazine much more of an urban plaything.
It is thought that there have been talks with retailers such as Topshop and Urban Outfitters about possible partnerships.
Despite speculation, it is understood that an announcement will not be made at the NME Awards on Wednesday evening.
And can free work for a music magazine? Less than twelve months ago, The Fly threw in the towel; a free NME would need a solid advertising market to sustain it and a global meltdown rerun of 2008... well, that might put a wrinkle in the numbers.


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AGRI committee backs ALDE proposals to make it easier for farmers and organisations to cooperate on sustainability initiatives
European farmers do a lot of work for a better and more sustainable farming and food production. More and more, this is also something that consumers are asking for when they do their grocery shopping. Yesterday, 1–4–2019, the European Parliaments AGRI committee backed an idea proposed by MEP Jan Huitema (ALDE, NL) and MEP Fredrick Federley (ALDE, SE) enabling farmers and their organizations to better cooperate in order to work with higher sustainability standards, especially with regard to environmental standards and animal welfare. The exemptions from European competition law are proposed to be in the CAP CMO-Regulation and will make it clearer and easier for farmers and organizations to cooperate on sustainability initiatives in order to get a fair pay from the market.
“I’m very glad that the AGRI committee backed this idea which I believe could make it easier for European farmers aiming for higher sustainability standards such as environmental and animal welfare to also get a fair pay for their quality produce from the market”, say MEP Jan Huitema (ALDE) and MEP Fredrick Federley (ALDE)
“Consumers want to buy good quality food products and are demanding more and more when it comes to sustainability. Our aim is that these new rules make it possible for farmers to deliver on these consumer demands and get appropriately payed for it”, say MEP Jan Huitema (ALDE) and MEP Fredrick Federley (ALDE).
More info: email@example.com


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SEGA has just announced a new Kinect game, during Microsoft’s keynote. The name of the new game is Rise of Nightmare.
They showed a teaser of the new game, very hard to make out what the game is suppose to be like, according to live blogs online. Some people suggested it would be a ‘on rail’ type of game. Seems like the best way to control games on Kinect. Could be a game like D, remember that game?
The game is aimed at the hardcore, a dark horror game.
[Source: IGN Live Blog]
PRESS RELEASE AFTER THE JUMP!
RISE OF NIGHTMARES™ REVEALED FOR A 2011 RELEASE ON KINECT™ FOR XBOX 360®
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (16th September, 2010) – SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA of America Inc today announced that Rise of Nightmares will be released globally in 2011 exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360.
Rise of Nightmares offers a spine-tingling horror experience which uses the innovative new controls of Kinect to give players new encounters filled with fearful anticipation and terror. Using their whole body the player will experience fear and tension as never before in this first person horror adventure.
Rise of Nightmares will be available on Kinect for Xbox 360 in 2011. For more information about Rise of Nightmares, please go to www.riseofnightmares.comAd:


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Intel and BMW's highly-automated cars hit the road
The test vehicles will be powered by Mobileye technology.
Samsung is testing self-driving car technology in South Korea
The company may not be building its own car, but it does want to have a stake in the self-driving market.
Google's self-driving cars are getting better at autonomy
And Tesla is testing Autopilot on public roads.
The Future IRL: Our Jetsons future has arrived
Can a machine really be as powerful as a human brain?
Las Vegas is testing autonomous shuttles this week
You can get a free ride on a little self-driving electric bus until the 20th.
ICYMI: Amazon made its first drone-powered delivery
Like manna from heaven.
Michigan embraces our self-driving future
Governor Snyder has lifted the ban on autonomous cars.
Automakers are beating Silicon Valley at its own game
Building cars isn’t a hobby.
ICYMI: Channel your Wall-E future with self-driving tech
Still no robots to hand you giant beverages, though.


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In the wake of experiencing high floods of holes and chatters, OS Nougat 7.0 – the most recent Operating System of Google at last dispatched on Android One Smartphone on twelfth September
Android One handset has begun to get the most recent variant of Google’s OS, Android Nougat 7.0 and users can now get update on their mobile. While other mobiles have to wait long to get this latest version of Operating System, Nexus Smartphones powered by Google have already empowered by the OS, and now Android One phones and tablets are the following wave to access the download. The roll out of this OS version in other devices is yet to take a couple of weeks.
With Android 7.0 Nougat, Google has brought up an extensive variety of new features and some major bug fixes to Android One gadgets. The upgrades have been discharged to Android Devices not long after Google discharged them for Nexus Smartphones. Every Nexus users can now check for Software Update in their Nexus and Android One mobiles by going to the ‘Setting’ menu.
Though Android Nougat for now is officially out, yet it depends upon a couple of criteria. If you are the user of mobiles like Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Google Pixel C, Nexus Player or an Android One gadget, then the screen will soon flash you the update message for OS.
If you have a Nexus 5, then you are going to miss the opportunity of getting Android Nougat. But the real stunner is that Google didn’t hold up to report Android Nougat at Google IO 2016. The purpose for this was to give developers few months to fiddle with the new OS.


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Moncton bakery gets nearly $1.4M to upgrade, expand in U.S.
Federal and provincial funding for Fancy Pokket Corp. will means dozens of jobs, says CEO
A Moncton-based bakery is getting nearly $1.4 million from the federal and provincial governments to upgrade its production facilities and expand into the southeastern U.S. market.
The funding for Fancy Pokket Corporation will mean dozens of jobs for Moncton, said company president and CEO Mike Timani.
"We've been 24 years in business now and by the time we open … the plant in the States, we will be able to double our business in Moncton in the next four years after we open the plant in the U.S." he told CBC News.
"What it means for Moncton, it will create another 30 jobs once we double the business from the U.S."
Once the bakery opens in the U.S., likely in February, it will be the largest dedicated gluten-free facility in the world, said Timani.
Will add packaging line, conveyors
Fancy Pokket currently manufactures baked products, including pita bread, bagels, pizza crusts, flat bread and tortilla wraps, and retails in Canada, parts of the U.S. and the Caribbean Islands.
The company has expanded its freezer space, and plans to add a packaging line, and other equipment such as conveyors, an oiler and a tunnel oven, with the federal and provincial funding.
"These changes will assist us in being more competitive as we prepare to enter the U.S. market," Timani said in a statement.
"It will also allow us to manufacture other popular products and increase our sales," he said.
The federal government is providing a repayable contribution of $1 million through the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency's business development program.
The New Brunswick government is investing $360,000.
Fancy Pokket has been in business since 1989.
It is considered one of Atlantic Canada's leading bakeries.


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Models in Elliatt designs sashayed down the runway on Tuesday night as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, while in China shoppers could buy the runway looks in real-time on e-commerce giant VIP.com.
Elliatt launched on VIP.com this week and the runway tie-up is part of an inbound trade mission focusing on China run by the Victorian government.
Representatives from Alibaba, JD, VIP.Com and NetEase China International Beauty Expo are in Melbourne for the fashion festival and the government is running business matching and networking sessions with them.
Katie Pratt, co-founder of Elliatt, told Fairfax Media that launching on VIP.com is part of the brand's expansion in China.
"We have done our time and done our research about what is the best platform to suit our brand," she says.
"There are a lot of platforms, but a lot of them focus on discounts while VIP.com has a focus on fashion. It's a really great kind of opportunity."
Elliatt's turnover was $7 million last year and it's on track to be more than $15 million this year, with one bricks-and-mortar store in China and plans to open 14 more.
"Our strategy is to target the second- and third-tier cities [in China] and with VIP.com the biggest percentage of their consumers is those cities which don't have lots of premium malls and high-end fashion," Pratt says. "I think VIP will help us reach that market."
Shayne Mele, merchandise manager at VIP.com, says the e-commerce platform offers huge exposure for Australian businesses.
"We have an extremely large user base of 300 million and over 80 per cent are female who are extremely fashion conscious," he says.
Mele says VIP.com has more than 25 million active daily users on its websites and stocks between 100 and 150 Australian brands.
"We have over 1700 people in our customer service team in China that operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week and we have our own logistics network which is one of the largest in China," he says.
VIP.com targets Australian businesses that will translate well to the Chinese market.
"We look for a trusted name in the local Australian market, they have to have some sort of unique selling point and have potential for scalability," he says.
The e-commerce platform agrees a wholesale price with each brand, which covers VIP.com's costs, tax, duty and the expected gross margin for the category.
Mele says the cut taken varies from category to category and brand to brand and Pratt says for Elliatt it is about 35 per cent.
Victorian Minister for Trade and Investment Philip Dalidakis says there are enormous opportunities for Australian businesses to break into China's huge e-commerce market.
“We know how important it is for local businesses to have strong global connections if they are to grow and create jobs," he says.